December 25, 1853, Beijing, Old Summer Palace.

Zhang Zegen, the minister of the Ming Dynasty to the Kingdom of Hawaii who returned to China to report on his work, was waiting outside the palace of Qinzheng and Qinxian, holding the "Hawaii Five-Power Treaty" that had just been initialed in his hand, and he was very worried in his heart.

The Treaty of the Five Kingdoms of Hawaii was initialed in Honolulu, Hawaii, on November 5, 1853. On behalf of the Ming Empire, the signing of the treaty was the same Earl Zhang Zegen, the minister of the Ming Dynasty to the Kingdom of Hawaii, who was troubled by the issue of "war damage compensation" - in order to maximize the mobilization of Hawaiian Chinese to participate in the war, he wrote a blank check that he had no way to cash. In the Honolulu Harbor incident, the Chinese merchants in Hawaii suffered heavy losses, and the port's warehouse district was in ruins due to fierce fighting. The grain, sugar, sandalwood, and other miscellaneous items stored there were either damaged in the battle or set on fire by the Russians, and the losses amounted to more than 2 million silver dollars, and the legation was unable to compensate for them. As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jinyiwei, they will not pay for it, and I am afraid that he will be dismissed because of his arbitrary promises, right?

In addition, the "Hawaiian Five-Power Treaty" will probably not be satisfactory to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ming Emperor. Because of the arrival of 2,000 Japanese new armies, Japan's troops in Hawaii have reached 2,500, which is the largest number among the five countries!

And the Ming Dynasty, although there is a whole fleet stationed in Honolulu Harbor, it is impossible for the main force of the fleet to stay for a long time, leaving at most a few cruisers and escort ships. With such a military backing, it is naturally impossible to turn Hawaii into a protectorate of the Ming Dynasty, and even the demand for Lend-Lease Pearl Harbor will not receive any support. As a result, the Ming Dynasty was granted the same immigration rights as Japan – in fact, before the Honolulu Harbor incident, Hawaii did not allow Chinese to enter. This right is and is not exactly the same. And the treaty gives Japan the same powers. This is tantamount to reminding the Japanese shogunate: hurry up and send someone over to grab the land......

Returning to China with such a treaty of "loss of power and humiliation of the country", Zhang Zegen was almost ready to be dismissed from his post and take away his title. Of course, going to jail won't. Now there are not many qualified diplomats in the Ming Dynasty, and those scholars and officials don't like to go abroad very much, so the Ming court is generally more tolerant of diplomats who make mistakes.

"You should be able to keep your title, right? After all, he followed the emperor's old ministers from Borneo......" When Zhang Zegen thought like this, Pan Zuyin, the deputy minister of the imperial study, had already walked out of the palace of Qinzheng and Qinxian.

"Lord Zhang, right?"

A minister stationed in a small country like Hawaii is naturally not in the eyes of Vice Minister Pan, but the title of Earl Qingtian is not something that can be obtained by an idle minister. This kind of knighthood with a place name is awarded to meritorious heroes! Therefore, Pan Zuyin, who was from the third grade, still gave Count Zhang a very polite salute.

"Your Majesty, please come in." Pan Zuyin said with a smile. Then he turned and walked in front. Zhang Zegen took a deep breath and followed closely. The hall was empty, and I saw a man in a dragon robe sitting behind the imperial case, bowing his head and writing something.

"Your Majesty, Minister Zhang Zegen to the Kingdom of Hawaii has arrived."

"Minister Zhang Zegen, long live the emperor." Zhang Zegen hurriedly returned to the ground on one knee and saluted.

"Get up." Zhu Jishi didn't look up, but just said lightly. He was writing a letter to Hong Xiuquan, urging him to march to Dihua after the beginning of spring tomorrow. The second eldest of God's family was a little sluggish in the westward expedition that began in the spring of this year, and it took more than half a year to advance to Hami, and he also ravaged the good Hexi Corridor - naturally he still preached his worship of God and expanded the army to collect grain and grass by the way. In short, like locusts. The "local potential" of the cause of the Hexi Corridor will be completely destroyed! Of course, the resulting revolt was also extremely fierce. On the one hand, knives and swords defend the truth, and on the other hand, foreign guns and cannons spread faith. As a result, guns are more powerful than swords, and the entire Hexi corridor is now full of newly erected crosses. These will be the troubles of Emperor Zhu in the future!

"You're doing a great job in Honolulu." Zhu Jishi put down the brush in his hand and praised, "However, your minister to Hawaii has also done it." He suddenly raised his head and glanced at Zhang Zegen, and Minister Zhang's forehead suddenly broke into a cold sweat, and he was really dismissed!

"I want you to go to Mexico as a minister," Zhu Jishi's next words made Zhang Zegen's heart happy.

"Go to Mexico ......" Zhang Zegen said in his heart, fortunately, he was not dismissed! But in an instant, his expression fell again, and he took out a plenum from his pocket and asked Pan Zuyin to hand it over. "Your Majesty, the minister made a mistake in Hawaii......

"Make a mistake?" Zhu Jishi was stunned for a moment, but when he opened the fold, he laughed loudly, "What should I do, it turned out to be a compensation of 2 million yuan, and the cabinet will not give out this money...... But I'm halfway there, most of those profiteers have overreported their losses, and I don't care about them anymore. ”

Half of it is 1 million yuan! In this world, there is probably only Emperor Zhu Jishi and Zhu Dahuang who can take millions of dollars seriously, right?

"Zhang Qing, how much do you know about Mexico?" Emperor Zhu turned the subject to Mexico again.

"To be sure, Mexico was originally a Spanish colony, but it has been independent for decades. However, after independence, Mexico was in a turbulent political situation, with fierce fighting between conservative and liberal factions in the country, and the country did not have a peaceful day. ”

"Your job in Mexico is to try to make peace in the country."

"I don't understand." Zhang Zegen really didn't know what Zhu Jishi was thinking.

Zhu Jishi still smiled and said: "Mexico is now a republic, but the turmoil of more than 20 years has proved that the republic is not in line with Mexico's national conditions, and Mexico needs an emperor." And I have a suitable candidate in my hands, the French princess Mathilde. Bonaparte. It is your mission to make her the Empress of Mexico, and France and Spain will support it, and with my financial resources, it is very promising to succeed. ”

Zhang Zegen almost couldn't believe his ears: "What does the emperor mean...... Is it for a French princess to be the Empress of Mexico? ”

"That's right, I need a Mexican ruler who can be supported and accepted by the European powers, because ...... I want a strong and prosperous Mexican empire! ”

"What is this for?"

As soon as these words came out, they were immediately rebuked by Emperor Zhu: "Why don't you understand? There are only two great powers around the Pacific Ocean, the United States and the Ming Dynasty! There is the Russian Empire around the Ming Dynasty, but there is no real power around the United States, which is extremely unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty! ”

"Your Majesty ......" Zhang Zegen still doesn't understand.

"Stupid, I don't understand this! I thought you had gained some knowledge, but who knew that Lu Dao was still so stupid, you have been in Hawaii for so many years, and you have dealt with foreigners for so many years! ”

The reason for this is obvious: China's power is held back by Russia, and the United States is free to turn all of Latin America into its de facto colony, which is extremely detrimental to China. So there needs to be a strong Mexico - the plan to weaken the United States cannot only intervene in the Civil War, if the intervention fails, Greater Mexico will be a strong enemy of the United States on land!

"In terms of interacting with foreigners, the minister still has some experience." Zhang Zegen was a little unconvinced.

"Yes, I just want that from you. Moreover, you are a brocade guard, a spy, and my eagle dog! So, you just have to do what I tell you to do. When I arrived in Mexico, I had to report the progress of the matter to me every month, do you know the way? ”

Zhang Zegen received the order to leave, although I don't know what Emperor Zhu thought, but as the emperor said, he is the emperor's eagle dog and must absolutely obey the emperor's orders! Since the emperor wants Princess Mathilde to be the empress of Mexico, there must be a reason.

But how do you get Mathilde to power? The support of France and Spain and their own diplomacy alone will certainly not work. This kind of thing, you have to send troops! Is the emperor ready for an expedition to the Americas? As soon as he walked out of the Qinzheng Qinxian Palace, this mystery was completely solved. Because Zhang Zegen saw the hero Hou Chen Yucheng going to the main hall under the guidance of Luo Zenan. (To be continued......)